As much as she detests the trappings of London society, Cherry St. Croix is well aware of how her position affects those around her. She also knows just how crucial it is that no one above or below the drift ever link the two lives she lives.

Below the drift, London is a completely different animal from the one above. It is foul, filthy, and poisonously foggy, except for the Midnight Menagerie where Micajah Hawke reigns with an iron fist.

When the peerage of London raised their city above the smog, it created a clear and physical division in class, one that Cherry is constantly crossing to do her job as a collector. The money she earns buys the opium she so desperately needs, while the job itself allows her freedoms she cannot hope to have above. Her freedom, moreover her very life, becomes endangered as she catches the eye of a madman as well as Mr. Hawke’s. The last thing Cherry wants to be embroiled in is Menagerie business, but she has no idea that is about to be the least of her worries.

Hard as she tries, Cherry shows us time and time again just how young and naïve she truly is. She may think herself tough and worldly due to her horrendous childhood, yet she repeatedly comes across as the sheltered and pampered young miss she so desperately tries to bury. I do, however, enjoy her escapades and hope that with time and experience upcoming novels will show her mature emotionally and intellectually. She is a great little heroine who has a propensity for getting into all sorts of trouble which I find to be her most entertaining attribute.